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Open Payments Database Debuts New Feature, Announces Updates

By Ryan Mcaskill

- At the beginning of the month, we covered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) new Open Payments database. It contains 4.4 million payments from drug and device companies to physicians and teaching hospitals that total $3.5 billion. The goal of this system is to help consumers understand the financial relationship between the health care industry and physicians and teaching hospitals.

Since the release there has been concern over the database from industry experts. This is because 40 percent of the payments are listed without noting who received them. The incomplete data is the result of accuracy concerns on the part of CMS or because the payments are being disputed by one of the parties involved. Open Payments is a living database and the belief is that over time, the missing information will be filled in and disputes will be settled.

At the end of last week, the first major upgrade for the database was released, with future data updates also announced. The upgrade is the release of an Open Payments search tool. Currently in beta, the new feature allows users to search identified data including physicians, teaching hospitals or companies making payments by name, city, state and speciality. A search will display all three payment types – general, research and ownership in companies. The goal is for users to try the feature and provide feedback to CMS for future improvements.

CMS also announced that by the close of business on October 31, 2014, applicable manufactures and group purchasing organizations should make corrections to any 2013 Open Payments disputed records. This new data will be published by the end of the year when the next data refresh will be released.

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  • “Any resolved records that result in a change to the covered recipient, and any records submitted to the Open Payments system for the first time, as well as any modifications to records currently on display, will NOT be published on or before the December 31 data refresh,” the release reads. “That data will become available in a future data update. All data must undergo the review and dispute process in order to be published.”

    Over the coming weeks, much of the “de-identified” information that was not published in the original launch and has caused some industry experts to express concern over the database will be sent back to the applicable manufacturers and GPOs for correction. The information will then be published in the system to allow industry users to examine it and make any needed modifications and then physicians and teaching hospitals will be able to dispute it, if needed.

    CMS is also encouraging organizations to start preparing for the 2014 reporting year, which will be released on June 30, 2015. By the end of the year, information will be released on how to best prepare information to ensure deadlines are met.